For such an earnest and seemingly old-fashioned anime as this often seems to be, No. 6 has quite the talent for slapping the audience in the face occasionally. Seeing a baby being nursed by a dog is certainly a first for me, anime or otherwise – and that’s just for starters.

Even though it isn’t always working for me, in a way I really admire NO.6 to sticking to its guns. Nine episodes in and it’s still preposterously theatrical, comically sincere and terribly muddled. But at least it doesn’t sell itself out and try to be something it’s not.

I’m pretty sure that never in this history of anime – and maybe any other medium – has one boy kissed another full on the lips, then said “I better go to bed. I have to get up early to shave the dogs.” And that exchange tells you pretty much all you need to know about No. 6.

Whether it was intentional or not, the fifth episode of NO.6 left me more confused and less sure of my footing than I was going in. As with so much of this show, I’m never quite sure just whether I’m taking things the way BONES intended.

If it’s Thursday it must be NoitaminA, if it’s the second slot it must be an edgy fantastical series, and if it’s BONES sci-fi the plot must be indecipherably complex. So far, No. 6 looks to be meeting demand in all three areas.